The Unquiet - J. D. Robb [50]
“I have to preserve my reputation, Griff. It would hardly do me credit if I could not find an interested lady here as easily as I could in London.”
“But why play the rake at all?”
“It’s a distraction that serves my purpose.”
Griff nodded.
Which was another of his assets. Griffin knew when to leave a subject alone.
“So what did you find, Chase? This one’s different from your usual adventure. What can I do to help?”
“Yes, just when I thought even adventures could grow boring, I am truly called on to help someone.”
“A woman. A lady?”
“Very much so, which is its own puzzle, as she is a shopkeeper. All I know is that she was particularly singled out for her ‘most valued possession.’ ” Chase told the story and ended with, “I don’t know what she may be hiding, but I do know she needs help.”
“Shall I nose around and see what more I can find out about Nesbitt, or do you want me to take the last of the night watch?”
“Nesbitt. I’ll take the watch.”
Griffin looked suspicious.
“I cannot lie and say I would object to knowing her better, but I will not take advantage while she is upset.”
“That’s much too noble, Chase.”
“You’re right.” Chase reconsidered his wording. “I will not take any steps that might ruin her reputation.”
“Yes, that’s a little more loosely worded.”
The carriage stopped where Griffin lived with his aging mother and spinster sister. “I will set out first thing in the morning, in disguise. I have not learned to box at Jackson’s as you have. Of course, I could simply bowl the man over and sit on him.” He laughed.
Chase did, too. “I can see the caricature. By Cruikshank, perhaps. With the caption ‘Gentleman proves that might makes right.’ ”
Griffin shook his head despite his amused smile. “All in all, I think I will exercise some restraint, spare my family embarrassment, and pose as a workingman.”
“As you will, Griff.”
Griffin waited until the steps were lowered and then made his way out of the conveyance, the whole rocking as he exited.
Chase waited until his one true friend in Birmingham let himself into the night-dark house, then knocked for the coachman to proceed.
He could never decide whether to feel sorry for the man or not. Trapped in Birmingham by family responsibilities was one way to look at it. But Griffin never complained, even spoke fondly of his mother and his sister. Chase supposed that family was not always an unwelcome presence. Though he was sure unwelcome was the only way to describe his presence among his mother, the duke, and siblings.
As directed, the coachman stopped near the Bull Ring—and wasn’t that a strange name for a shopping arcade? Chase made his way on foot to the next street and Chernov Drapers. Manning was waiting under the streetlamp.
“Nothing amiss, my lord. I spent some time in the back to be sure the sounds I heard were only the night cart on its rounds and not someone who wanted more than leavings of the chamber pots.”
Manning looked more like the boxer he had been than the competent tutor he now was. His size was impressive, but it was his expression that made it clear his tolerance for trouble was minimal at best. The boys in his charge toed the line, there was no doubt about that.
“Off you go, then, Manning. I’ll take over until full light. Have two of the boys find me in a couple of hours, after their breakfast. They can watch the place during the day. Nesbitt has a shop to run himself so I don’t expect any more trouble from him until dark, and by then I will have had some time to talk to him.” He rubbed his hands over his knuckles, hoping that Nesbitt was ready for some rough education. “Oh, and have the boys bring my writing case. The one I use when I travel.”
“Very good, my lord.” With a salute of sorts, Manning handed Chase the white scarf and hurried off down the street.
The sky was beginning to lighten. The old moon gave its bare light and the first of the dairymaids began their morning